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Major Players Worldwide Establish Global Partnership to Drive Climate-Friendly Technologies

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Environmental News Service (ENS) posted an article with the header: “17 Major Economies Pledge to Set Greenhouse Gas Limit by December.” The leaders of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States said they are “convinced that climate change poses a clear danger requiring an extraordinary global response…”

The leaders promised to ’spare no effort to reach agreement in Copenhagen, with each other and with the other Parties’ in December in Copenhagen, where the UN Climate Conference will take place. These countries produce 80% of all pollution worldwide.

The major economies realize developing countries have greater priorities for economic and social development and feel that moving quickly to a low-carbon economy is an “opportunity to promote continued economic growth and sustainable development.” There is an urgent need to move forward at lowest possible cost in the area of clean energy.

Part of the plan for lowering CO2 emissions is to prevent future “deforestation and forest degradation and to enhance removals of greenhouse gas emissions by forests, including providing enhanced support to developing countries for these purposes.” The plan also includes doubling investments in clean technologies like solar energy, smart grids, carbon capture, use, and storage, better vehicles, bio energy, etc., by 2015.

Posted in Alternative Energy, CO2 Emissions, Conservation, Countries/Continents, Environmental Legislation, Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Plants, Science, Trees, Weather/Climate | No Comments »

President Obama Raises Issue of Permafrost Melt in Russia Relative to Global Warming

Monday, July 6th, 2009

President Obama’s current trip to Russia was mainly about both countries being role models for the rest of the world concerning a reduction in nuclear arms and cooperation on climate change. President Obama voiced concern over Russia’s permafrost region in Siberia. He warned, “If the permafrost in Russia completely melts, it could completely transform the weather patterns on the planet, in some cases in very dangerous ways,” according to ENS website and many others.

Environmental News Service had an article back in 2006 regarding the permafrost melt in Russia. It seems the melting permafrost is releasing ten times the methane than originally thought. The article stated, “The research team recorded the bubbling of methane at two thawing lakes in northern Siberia using aerial surveys, remote sensors and year-round measurements. The scientists found the expansion of the lakes between 1974 and 2000, fueled by a period of regional warming, increased methane emissions by 58 percent.”

The amazing thing is that the methane gas in this permafrost dates back to the Pleistocene age—”some 40 thousand years ago, according to study coauthor Jeff Chanton, a scientist with Florida State University.” The article went on to say: “More than 4 million tons of methane is being released by Siberia’s array of lakes and wetlands, the researchers said, a figure that is 10 to 63 percent higher than previous estimates.” Another study released in 2006 by the British Antarctic Survey, “found that in the past 800,000 years methane had never tipped 750 parts per billion (ppb), but [was] 1,780 ppb [already back in 2006].”

To exacerbate the problem of melting permafrost is that much of the freshwater is diluting the ocean’s saltwater content also. The NOAA Status Report: “NOAA’s Arctic Goals for IPY (International Polar Year) & Beyond” states that possible Arctic influences on global climate change include:

Increase in methane in the atmosphere due to a thaw in the permafrost on land and under water

Fresh water/salt water imbalances. Ocean circulation disruption

Changing albedo of the planet due to melting of sea ice and taller vegetation (ALBEDO refers to ratio of reflected light and incident light)

Extinction or migration of many species

Rising sea level due to Greenland’s melting ice sheet

Increase in severe weather

The NOAA also stated: “Atmospheric influences on the total system are profound.”

Tags: Obama Administration, Russia
Posted in Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Global Warming Reports, Politics, Science, Weather/Climate | 1 Comment »

Cancer is more easily preventable than cureable

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

I just read a very interesting article on ENS (Environmental New Service) website. It included a letter to Congressional leaders from medical and scientific experts urging Obama’s Cancer Plan to expand to include cancer prevention. The article stated: “It is now beyond dispute in the independent scientific community that environmental and occupational exposures to carcinogens are the primary cause of non-smoking related cancers. An October 2007 publication on environmental and occupational causes of cancer by one of us (Dr. Richard Clapp) further emphasized that the increasing incidence of cancer is due to preventable exposures to carcinogens in the workplace and environment.”

Since 1975 exposure to cancer causing agents in the environment has increased. Remember the early 70’s the Clean Air and Water Act was enacted because we were polluting horribly. All the reports I’ve read say our air and water have indeed cleaned up a great deal since the early 70’s. Yet this letter states that more work related and environmental pollutants are causing the majority of cancers and that trend began in the mid 70’s. Hmmm.

The NCI still claims 94% of all cancers are caused by smoking, obesity, sun, yada, yada, yada and only 6% to environmental factors. But that consensus came from a 1981 report from Sir Richard Doll in the U.K. Here is where motive changes how we should view Sir Doll’s report. He was also a consultant for Monsanto, and the asbestos industry. Just before he died in 2002, “Doll admitted that most cancers, other than those related to smoking and hormones, “are induced by exposure to chemicals often environmental.”

This was scary stuff I was reading. We’ve been mislead for quite awhile. We are not causing our own cancers as much as we have been lead to believe. There is a list of cancers increasing at a rapid rate caused by factors not under our control. It is clear that other agencies besides the NCI need be involved in the prevention of cancer like the EPA, FDA, and OSHA. The agencies that can control the rise of preventable cancers because what we are breathing, drinking, and eating is affecting our health.

And as far as new cures for cancer, this letter had disturbing facts, but not hard to believe. I’m helping my mother through the aftermath of cancer and do not trust that the standard route works all that well either. My suspicions were confirmed when I read:

Furthermore, the NCI has touted the imminent success of new cancer treatments – promises that have seldom borne out, and which have been widely questioned by the independent scientific community. For instance, in 2004, Nobel Laureate Leland Hartwell, President of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Control Center, warned that Congress and the public are paying NCI $4.7 billion a year, most of which is spent on “promoting ineffective drugs” for terminal disease.

Well then, there you have it. Cancer is more easily preventable than cureable.

Read the very candid letter from the medical and scientific community and list of cancers on the rise and their causes:
http://world-wire.com/news/0906150001.html.

Posted in EPA, Environmental Legislation, Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, FDA, Federal Government, Food, Health, Hormones in Food, Industry, Legislators, Pollution, Science, U.S. Food Supply | No Comments »

Greenhouse Gases Are Changing the Dynamics of the Atmosphere

Friday, April 17th, 2009

According to new research from NASA scientists and John Hopkins University, greenhouse gases are changing the dynamics of the atmosphere relative to the ozone layer. Remember when depleting the ozone layer was an issue? Aerosol cans and refrigerants were responsible and until the ingredients in these products were changed consumers switched to pump spray bottles that are still around today and a good idea.

According to the article by ENS on sundancechannel.com, “Greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere as high as 6 miles up, but it cools the upper stratosphere from 18 to 31 miles up. This cooling slows the chemical reactions that deplete ozone in the upper stratosphere and allows natural ozone production there to outpace destruction by refrigerants and other ozone depleters.” But scientists found “accumulation of greenhouse gases also changes the circulation of stratospheric air masses from the tropics to the poles.” Again, global warming isn’t just about one process. Over and over again, global warming affects multiple events in the atmosphere depending on location.

Scientists fear the middle latitudes will over-recover ozone to even greater concentrations than before when it posed a real problem, while in the tropics, stratospheric circulation changes could prevent the ozone layer from recovering at all.

Read more:
http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfiltered/2009/04/climate-change-complicates-ozone-recovery/

Tags: Ozone Layer
Posted in CO2 Emissions, Earth, Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Pollution, Science, Sundance | 4 Comments »

Nearly One Third of All Bird Species in U.S. Threatened

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

According to a report from the ENS, Environmental News Service website, the first comprehensive report ever produced on U.S. bird populations finds that our birds are “endangered, threatened or in decline due to climate change, habitat loss, and invasive species.” Secy. of Interior Salazar announced:

Just as they were when Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring” nearly 50 years ago, birds today are a bellwether of the health of land, water and ecosystems,” Salazar said. “From shorebirds in New England to warblers in Michigan to songbirds in Hawaii, we are seeing disturbing downward population trends that should set off environmental alarm bells. We must work together now to ensure we never hear the deafening silence in our forests, fields and backyards that Rachel Carson warned us about.

I don’t know about anyone else, but to live in a land without the sound of birds would be a deafening silence for me. From where I am sitting right now, I see my bird feeders about 20 ft. away. Beyond my feeders is a wetlands area that has grown over the years in popularity for all kinds of wildlife. We have nesting swans back there now and all types of different looking ducks. I can’t imagine a life without them. And quite frankly there won’t be a life without them.

The canary in the mine was an actual practice. If the bird died, it was not environmentally safe for humans either. And our birds are dying. Rachel Carson’s work was aimed at the pesticide industry. Unfortunately, shortly after her book “Silent Spring” was published, Carson died of cancer. I think today, Rachel would have had much fodder to work with far beyond the use of pesticides. As the intro on e-notes.com says about “Silent Spring”:

Though an environmental consciousness can be discerned in American culture as far back as the nineteenth century, environmentalism as it is known today has only been around for about forty years, and Carson’s book is one of its primary sources. Her tirade against humankind’s attempt to use technology to dominate nature wrenched environmentalism from its relatively narrow, conservationist groove and helped transform it into a sweeping social movement that has since impacted almost every area of everyday life.

Rachel Carson would have had plenty to tirade about today like mercury, fertilizer runoff, and oil spills. Clean coal would have spurred a book all by itself.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2009/2009-03-19-01.asp

http://www.enotes.com/silent-spring

Tags: Pesticides, Secy. Salazar
Posted in Animals and Extinction, Animals in Peril, Birds, Conservation, Dept. of the Interior, Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, Fossil Fuel, Global Warming, Health, Mercury, Morality, Oil Spills, Pollution, Wildlife | No Comments »

New Figures Released Show Protecting the Planet is Affordable

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Another study, one of the largest and most detailed ever, a global analysis of sorts was released Monday in Belgium. What we were told from the beginning that we need to act on curbing global warming within the next decade still holds true. The study said, “that delays in action of even 10 years would mean failing to contain global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, the level most scientists say will avert its most drastic impacts.”

The best part of the study showed that moving to a global economy by 2030 is not only possible but also affordable even though it’s a rigorous program, concentrating on lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels in the next 20 years. It’s not often that something urgent doesn’t cost extra. We know that when we have to accomplish something in a hurry. Expediting usually costs more no matter what. So to say we have to do this, we can do this, and we can afford to do this is a real blessing.

Posted in CO2 Emissions, Conservation, Environmental News Service, Global Warming, Global Warming Reports, Pollution | 1 Comment »

Japan Beats U.S. to Launch First CO2 Observing Satellite

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

I read an article about Nasa’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory or OCO in BBC News back in December. But since budget cuts for NASA by the Bush administration shelved some projects, I didn’t think we would see OCO until after the Bush administration’s exit. OCO’s launch from Vandenbergy Air Force Base in California is supposed to take place on February 23 according to this same article and Japan’s GOSAT or Ibuki was to follow OCO in orbit around the earth. But surprise Ibuki is up there as of today.

I don’t know much about Ibuki other than what the AP has released. It circles the earth every 100 minutes and gathers info to pinpoint where CO2 emissions are most concentrated. It appears that Japan may have surprised NASA with this earlier than expected launch. Apparently, Ibuki is also first in a series of satellites to be launched just like NASA’s parade of satellites called the A-Train. According to the BBC article check out what follows NASA’s OCO:

Aqua will lag OCO by 15 minutes. It is collecting information about the Earth’s water cycle – water in the oceans, the air and on the land

Cloudsat will allow for the most detailed study of clouds to date. It should better characterise their role in regulating the climate

Calipso views clouds just moments after Cloudsat has looked at them. Its primary interest is the way aerosols interact with clouds

Parasol is a French satellite that can distinguish natural from human-produced aerosols. It makes polarised light measurements

Glory will join the train in June. One task will be to measure the ‘energy budget’ of Earth, to determine accurately the global temperature

Aura also has a big European investment. It looks at atmospheric chemistry, and is producing remarkable global pollution maps.

All of this is well and good but it seems there is going to be a lot of duplication resulting in space trash. There is a ton of it up there already. A unified, cooperative effort world wide to gather the latest data would be nice. Oh and a satellite that goes up and also comes down so we don’t have floating junk to dodge if space travel ever becomes common place.

If someone aimed a big magnet into outer space, I wonder how much scrap metal would be collected?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7769619.stm

http://green.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090123/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_rocket.html

Posted in BBC, CO2 Emissions, Earth, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Japan, NASA, Pollution | 1 Comment »

Great Lakes Included in New Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

The Senate Bill S 22 I blogged about last night has advantages for Michigan. The 200 million acres slated for protection under the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009includes 9 states of which Michigan is one of them.

An article on (ENS) Environmental News Service website highlights some of the details of this package of 160 public land bills that also includes four ocean bills. The ocean bills are important to Michigan and the Great Lakes. They are:

The Ocean and Coastal Exploration and NOAA Act will authorize the National Ocean Exploration Program, National Undersea Research Program, and the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to increase scientific knowledge for the management, use and preservation of oceanic, coastal and Great Lake resources.

The Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act will authorize the establishment of an integrated system of coastal and ocean observations for the nation’s coasts, oceans and Great Lakes.

The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act will authorize a coordinated federal research program on ocean acidification.

The Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act will authorize funding for a program to protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical, aesthetic, or watershed protection values, and that are threatened by conversion to other uses.

Read more about this bill that took quite a lot of effort and an even longer time to get passed due to opposition by one Senator:

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-12-03.asp

Posted in Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Conservation, Environmental Legislation, Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Legislators, Michigan/Great Lakes, National Parks and Forests, Public Lands | No Comments »

More Coalburners Possible for Michigan

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

With Michigan’s economy in the dumper and deficits rising, it’s hard for many to stick to a green path in Michigan. Construction of two new coalburners by Wolverine Power Supply and Consumers Energy are planned that will bring work there for a while.

But how do we think this will fair alongside new green industry Michigan is looking to entice to our area? We can’t expect green companies to park themselves next to one of the greatest pollution producing industries—coal. It would make for strange neighbors.

And what about our health in Michigan? If we expect to horde our water to keep it here, than we have the responsibility to keep that water fresh. Exposing more of our open fresh water to toxic mercury from these plants is unacceptable. Besides that our own health from the air born toxins are in jeopardy. The following is an excerpt from those in Michigan’s medical profession:

As medical doctors conducting health research at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan respectively, we feel compelled to warn that construction of these plants would gravely impair Michigan’s air quality and expose our communities to severe, even lethal, health impacts.

Coal plants release at least 70 different pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulate matter and mercury. These pollutants are known carcinogens, teratogens, neurotoxins, and/or cardiopulmonary irritants.

And we wonder why there are so many new cases of autoimmune disease and cancer? This isn’t just about jobs, this is about our health and welfare, which is supported by our environment, the air we breathe, water and food we drink and eat. There are so many more pollutants and toxins in our environment than our ancestors experienced that our bodies are overworked daily. So when we face something as simple as allergies our immune response is flooded. Just yesterday a friend called me to say that another dear friend died of problems arising from his immune system.

As Americans we have a tendency to seek instant gratification, only that can sometimes lead to acting without foresight and create more drastic problems down the road. We can’t wait to get jobs in Michigan and are quick to overlook the ramifications of adding more pollution to our state with these coalburners without really, really attempting to facilitate other sources. We gets jobs, get a paycheck for building coal fired power plants, but down the line we suffer grief and lose that income and more to illness. It isn’t worth it.

We have a new president on the way with new economic ideas that are environmentally friendly. It looks like this push to start construction on these coalburners is a rush to get by before the new president takes office. And when everyone finds that there are many, many jobs waiting in green industry also, that we have a choice of work, and alternatives for energy, there won’t be much of a long-term future for the archaic fossil fuel industry will there? That’s motive for the fossil fuel energy companies that isn’t in the best interest of the people in this state. The more we manage to forge ahead into green technology, the greater the strides we will make toward some pretty remarkable energy sources that won’t infringe on the environment and ultimately on our own well being.

Contact Governor Granholm that you want a stay on these permits for now: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995—,00.html

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901070332

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901070345

Posted in Alternative Energy, CO2 Emissions, Coal, Coalburners, Environment and Jobs, Environmentalism, Fossil Fuel, Global Warming, Great Lakes Pollution, Green Construction, Industry, Mercury, Michigan, Michigan Energy Legislation, Michigan Environmental News, Michigan Environmental Policy, Michigan Pollution, Michigan/Great Lakes, Protesting Pollution, The Detroit Free Press, Utilities | 4 Comments »

Three New U.S. Marine National Monuments Established

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

After eight long years of more hits on the environment and animals than not, president Bush officially designated three different U.S.marine national monuments

covering a combined 200,000 square miles of ocean for preservation.

Mariana’s Trench Marine National Monument. This trench is five times longer than the Grand Canyon and the deepest area of the earth. It is home to underwater volcanoes and thermal vents. The Marianas are located north of Guam, SE of Japan, and west of the Marshall Islands.

Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument south and west of Hawaii. This monument will help preserve irreplaceable trees, grasses, and birds from near the equator to monk seals, sea turtles, whales and coral reefs.

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument an island east of American Samoa is home to giant clams, reef sharks, and an abundance of beautiful rose-colored corals—Rose Atoll.

There won’t be any oil drills in these areas at least. No “resource destruction or extraction, waste dumping, or commercial fishing,” will be allowed, according to an Environmental New Service article. The areas will be free passage areas however, and allow research and recreation.

This couldn’t happen at a better time because it was reported this evening on the news that the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia is showing the biggest decline in its coral ecosystem in 400 years!

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-06-02.asp

Posted in Bush Administration, Conservation, Environmental News Service, Environmentalism, Federal Government, Marine Life, Plants, Politics, Trees | No Comments »

Our World and Everything in It